Norman Samish writes:
> Stathis Papaioannou writes: > That's right, but with a fixed input the computer follows a perfectly > deterministic course, like a clockwork mechanism, however many times we > repeat the run. Moreover, if we consider the recording of the input as > hardwired into the computer, it does not interact with its environment. So > we have the possibility that a perfectly deterministic physical system that > does not interact with its environment may be conscious. And since the > computer may be built and programmed in an arbitrarily complex way, because > any physical system can be mapped onto any computation with the appropriate > mapping rules, we have the possibility that any physical system could be > implementing any computation. That would be a trivial result given that we > are unable to interact with such a computer and would never be able to use > it or recognise it as a computer - except that such a computer can be > conscious, self-aware in its own segregated virtual world. > > NCS: If the computer is "conscious" I don't see how it could be a > deterministic or predictable physical system. To me, consciousness means it > is self-aware, capable of modifying its responses, and therefore not > predictable. What are the ingredients of a conscious computer ? Perhaps > one essential component is a central processing unit that depends on quantum > randomness to arrive at a decision when other factors balance out. Being self-aware, capable of modifying its responses, and therefore unpredictable does not mean an entity is not deterministic. A naturally evolved intelligent entity only needs to be unpredictable from the point of view of predators and prey. Tossing a coin gives unpredictable results as far as we are concerned, but that does not mean the outcome is not perfectly deterministic. Unpredictability can result from the effect of classical chaos, or simply from the inadequacy of the intelligent entity trying to make the prediction. Stathis Papaioannou _________________________________________________________________ Be one of the first to try Windows Live Mail. http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=5d21c51a-b161-4314-9b0e-4911fb2b2e6d --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
